Programming languages are similar: if programmers notice that
the facilities provided by the language are not “really what
happens on the machine” then the language has failed.
[Nowadays, when people assert that mutable state is really what
happens on the machine, I ask them if they mean string theory or
quantum field theory—ed.] For example, machine language is
successful in that programmers rarely think about microcode;
garbage collection is less successful in that programmers often
think about pointer reachability. So, I advise my colleagues
studying programming languages that they are doomed for obscurity,
like individual petals of cherry blossom.

Yes, it’s about time for me to pick up the book again some time,
too. Remember we talked about this “should we wear shoes if we are
moving a piano across a Japanese living room [to a bathroom? ;)]”
question? I mentioned this to a friend of mine who’s teaching
anthropology at Tunghwa University, Hualien, and that’s the first
title he came up with. We should make this into a puzzle
game…

I thought about making it into a puzzle game, but my tentative
ideas were all too depressing to be fun enough for an actual
popular game. When I described the idea to one person, she said,
“oh, you’re describing life.” Yes, perhaps life doesn’t make for a
popular game.